Gas-main stopper.



No. 740395. I PATENTED 001'. 6, 1903. E. A. B EHRINGER. GAS MAIN STOPPER.

APPLIUATIQF FILED 00-1. 1- 1902.

I0 MODEL.

iNVENTOR.

' I gtwmjhhm An oam-n v WITNESSES:

UNITED STATES I iatented October 6, 190a.

PATENT OFFICE.

GAS-MAIN STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 740,795, dated October 6, 1903. Application filed October 1, 1902. $eria1N0. 125,581. (No model) To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD A. Bnnnmosn, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Flatbush, in the borough of Brooklyn, in the city of New York, in the State of New York,

have invented certain new and useful IIn-.

provements in Inflatable Gas-Main Packings; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same,

reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a transverse sectional viewof an apparatus made according to my invention.

where repairs or changes are to be made. To

insure the requisite properties of impermeability, flexibility, and easy inflation, such bags are usually made of india-rubber or some of its compounds. Such material, how ever, has comparatively only a slight tensile strength, and gas-main bags as heretofore applied to use are liable during inflation in the main to burst from internal pressure injudiciously applied, are liable to speedy deterioration or decay from the chemical action of substances which are deposited in the mains from the gas therein, and are, further, often ruptured or injured where the inflating-tube joins the bag by the tension or strain exerted upon the tube in the withdrawal of the deflated bag from the main.

My invention is designed for overcoming the drawbacks just hereinbefore set forth and comprises certain novel combinations of instrumentalities hereinafter set forth whereby such object is effectually secured.

A is an ordinary gas-main having the opening a ordinarily provided for the insertion and withdrawal of a gas-bag D. This bag is of any usual or suitable construction having -nting methods.

a pipe 19, which should be of a flexible character and through'which air is forced in the usual manner into the bag to inflate or expand the same and through which in the deflation or shrinking of the bag preliminary to the Withdrawal of the bag from the gas-main the air is permitted to escape from the bag.

B is a sack made of flexible material and of such character as will enable it to resist the solvent or corrosive action of the substances usually deposited in gas-mains from the gas passing therethrough in the normal use and operation of gas making and distrib- For example, said sack may be made of cloth or textile material very thoroughly saturated with paraflin or other suitable substance, which under normal conditions of use sufficiently resists the action of the substances deposited in gas-mains, as

j ust mentioned. It should also, as com pared with the material of the bag A, be substantially non-elastic, so that when a certainlimit of expansion of the bag is reached its further expansion shall be restricted and resisted by the surrounding non-elastic material of the sack, as herein presently further explained. This sack is made of approximately spherical or other shape more or less corresponding or proportioned to the shape and dimensions of the bag A, which is placed within it, but with proviso that the size of the sack at its greatest diameter-thatis to say, at the greatest diameter of the bag when it incloses the lattershall not exceed that to which the bag when in actual use in the main can be inflated without danger of rupture or bursting. The upper part of the sack is narrowed to form a tubular neck, as shown at a. At the lower part of this neck is adouble welt d. (Illustrated separately in Fig.4 In this well; is placed a gathering tape or string 6, whereby on occasion the neck can be gathered, puckered, or tightened around the pipe a at the bag A, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3.

In the useand operation of my invention the bag B is deflated by squeezing or otherwise, the air being allowed to escape therefrom through the air-pipe b in the usual manner until the bag is shrunken to the requisite diminished diameter. It is then placed within the sack, in which it may remain ready for use, the pipe b protruding from the neck a of the sack. The sack is then compressed closely upon or around the deflated bag to a degree which enables the sack, with the bag within it, to be passed into the main A through the opening a in the manner usual in the ordinary insertion of the bag alone. This done, the bag is inflated through the tube b, thereby inflating and expanding the bag to a degree sufticient to enable it to completely close the bore of the pipe. When this desired maximum of expansion is attained before a pressure within the bag sufficient to rupture the latter is reached, the outer surface of the bag is brought against the internal surface of the sack,so that thelatter,being of strong and nonelastic material, as hereinbetore explained, resists the further expansion of thebag, and by taking up from the latter the excess of pressure from within effectually preventsthe rupture of the bag. Further, the sack being impervious and of a character which resists the solvent or corrosive action of deposits in the gasmain the bag is etfectually protected against such action of said deposits, which latter are known to have an especially injurious effect upon the rubber of which such bags are for the most part composed. The bag is of course retained in its inflated condition to close the bore of the main by sim-' ply closing the pipe d, which may be done in the usual way by tying a knot g in said pipe or otherwise. When the apparatus is to be withdrawn from the main, the air-pipe d is opened to permit the exit of air from the bag. The neck 0 of the sack is then grasped by the hand and the sack, with the bag within it, is drawn out, both sack and bag collapsing to permit this. As the bag is thus removed without strain or draft upon the pipe d, all danger of detaching the pipe from the bag during the withdrawal of the latter is obviated.

It is to be observed that while I have described my invention in its relation with gasmains my said invention includes its use in water-mains and mains generally which are employed for the transmission of fluids.

What I claim as my invention is 1. The combination with a gas-main bag of a flexible non-elastic inclosing sack provided with a tubular neck which surrounds the adjacent part of the air-pipe of the bag, whereby the bag may be withdrawn from the gasmain without strain on the air-pipe, as described.

2. The combination with a gas-main bag of a flexible non-elastic inclosing sack proportioned to the shape and dimensions of the bag so as to receive and resist-pressure from within the bag when a desired maximum of expansion of the latter has been attained and provided with a tubular neck which surrounds the inner part of the air-pipe of the bag to enable the latter to be withdrawn from the gas-main without draft on the air-pipe, as described.'

3. The combination with a gas-main bag of a removable flexible non elastic inclosing sack provided with a neck which surrounds the inner portion of the air-pipe of the bag and which is constructed with a circumferential welt, of a gathering-string placed in said welt to gather and hold the neck to the said part of the air-pipe, as described.

EDWARD A. BEHRINGER. Witnesses:

JAMES A. WHITNEY, AMAZIAH WHITNEY. 

